Suspects in the attack on the concert hall in Russia are under arrest

On March 24 of this year, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested four defendants for two months in connection with a bloody attack at “Krokus City Hall.” The court session was held behind closed doors.

On the defendants’ bench are four citizens of Tajikistan – 32-year-old Dalerjon Mirzoev, 30-year-old Saidakram Rachabalizoda, 25-year-old Fariduni Shamsiddin, and 19-year-old Muhammadsobir Faizov.

They have been charged under paragraph “b” of part 3 of article 205 of the Criminal Code (committing a terrorist act as part of a group). They face a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment.

Dalerjon Mirzoev was the first to be brought into the courtroom. He appeared weak and confused, with visible signs of beating and torture on his face, and a piece of plastic remained on his neck. He is married and has four minor children. His temporary registration in Novosibirsk has expired, he does not speak Russian, and communicated in court through an interpreter.

Channels close to Russian security forces published a video showing him being detained while climbing down from a tree.

The second to enter the courtroom was Saidakram Murodali Rachabalizoda. He also showed signs of severe beating on his face. During his detention, security forces cut off his ear and then forced him to eat it. In court, he sat with a bandage on his right ear. Saidakram is married and has a child. He has registration in Russia but does not remember where exactly.

The third citizen of Tajikistan, Fariduni Shamsiddin, also appeared in court with signs of torture on his face and body. He is married and has an eight-month-old child. Faridun worked as a laborer at a parquet factory in Podolsk.

In a video of the interrogation, circulated by pro-government channels, he stated that he was contacted by an “assistant preacher” on Telegram who promised 500,000 rubles for the attack on “Krokus City Hall.” He arrived in Russia from Turkey on March 4. In a photograph published by Telegram channels, Faridun was seen lying with his pants down, and an apparatus for torture with electric shocks was allegedly connected to his genitals.

The fourth defendant, 19-year-old Muhammadsobir Faizov, was brought into the courtroom on a stretcher.

Judge Timur Vakhrameev removed the doctors accompanying Muhammadsobir from the courtroom.

During his detention, Muhammadsobir sustained serious injuries to his left eye and was interrogated the day before in the intensive care unit. In a video of the interrogation from the hospital, Muhammadsobir asks the interpreter, “What did I do?”.

It is reported that in November 2023, Faizov started working at the MyStyle beauty salon in the village of Teykovo near Ivanovo, and according to the owner, he worked there for only three months.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow reports that all four have confessed to their guilt, and therefore they have been taken into custody for two months.

It should be noted that the lawyers of the suspects wanted the court session to be held in an open format with the participation of journalists; however, the proceedings took place behind closed doors under the pretext of “investigative secrecy” and “threats to the safety of the participants in the incident and their relatives.”

Even in the videos published by the media from the beginning of the court proceedings, it can be heard that Russian law enforcement officials do not allow journalists to ask questions to the suspects.

The attack on “Krokus City Hall” in the city of Krasnogorsk, Moscow region, occurred on the evening of Friday, March 22, before the performance of the band “Piknik.” Several individuals entered the venue and opened fire on the security and visitors, after which they began to set the premises on fire.

After the fire started, they returned to the vehicle they arrived in and left the city. They were only apprehended in the Bryansk region. According to official information, as a result of the attack, 137 people were killed, including three children, and another 182 were injured.

The terrorist group “Islamic State” claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan reported that three Tajik citizens, whose search was previously announced by Russian media in connection with the attack at “Krokus City Hall,” are not involved in it. According to the agency, Russian media circulated information that the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Bryansk region had put Rivodzhiddin Islomov and Mahmadrasul Nasriddinov on the wanted list in connection with the terrorist act.

“This information has no real basis, as the aforementioned individuals arrived from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Tajikistan on November 26, 2023, and are at their place of residence,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan stated.
29-year-old Rustam Nazarov, who was listed as a suspect, also turned out to be innocent of the attack. He had been at home in Samara with his family all day. By morning, Nazarov saw his photo on the wanted list and went to the police himself.

A labor migrant from Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Azda TV that one of his relatives, whose last name was similar to one of the suspects in this bloody attack, was detained by Russian police and was brutally beaten for 5 hours, and after it turned out that he was innocent, he was released.

Later, the head of the FSB of Russia, Alexander Bortnikov, informed President Vladimir Putin about the arrest of 11 individuals, including four main suspects directly involved in the attack. However, the BBC reported that two suspects were killed, one in the concert hall and the other during the arrest in the Bryansk region of Russia.

The names of the other suspects have not yet been disclosed.

The President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, the day after the attack, in a phone conversation with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, strongly condemned this “inhumane act of violence, which has no justification” and emphasized that “terrorists have no nationality, homeland, or faith.”